| In this thesis, a three-dimensional, finite element model has been developed to study continuum transport phenomena in solution crystal growth systems, using the well-characterized potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) growth system of Bordui as a prototypical system. The results represent the first self-consistent, three-dimensional computations of fluid flow, mass transfer, and growth kinetics in a solution crystal growth system.; Fluid flow in the system is described by the Navier-Stokes equations for an incompressible fluid, and mass transport by the convection-diffusion equation. A stabilized Galerkin/least-squares finite element formulation is used to solve these governing equations on meshes of linear, unstructured, tetrahedral elements generated using automatic meshing techniques.; Time-dependent and steady-state, solution flow and supersaturation fields for two different crystal mounting geometries are computed using data-parallel algorithms implemented on two massively parallel supercomputers. The flow results indicate better global mixing in a crystal geometry that breaks cylindrical symmetry in the system. Surface supersaturation levels on the crystal are higher on an average in the same geometry, due to advantageous time-averaging effects of a periodic reversal in the direction of rotation. Our results present surface supersaturation distributions that are consistent with inclusion formation patterns observed in experiments. |
